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FC Barcelona/import
Joan Laporta | manager = Josep Guardiola | league = La Liga | season = 2007-08 | position = La Liga, 3rd | shirtsupplier = Nike | shirtsponsors = UNICEF | pattern_la1=|pattern_b1=_bluehalf|pattern_ra1=|pattern_so1=_bluetop | leftarm1=0000FF|body1=C32148|rightarm1=C32148|shorts1=0000FF|socks1=C32148| | pattern_la2=_thinblackborder|pattern_b2=_barca0809away|pattern_ra2=_thinblackborder| | leftarm2=FFF000|body2=FFF000|rightarm2=FFF000|shorts2=00008B|socks2=FFF000 | pattern_la3=_yellowborder|pattern_b3=_Barca2|pattern_ra3=_yellowborder| | leftarm3=007FFF|body3=007FFF|rightarm3=007FFF|shorts3=00AEEF|socks3=00CCFF| }} Fútbol Club Barcelona (Catalan , Spanish ), also known simply as Barcelona and familiarly as Barça (Catalan , Spanish ), is a sports club based in Barcelona, Catalonia. It is best known for its football team, which was founded in 1899 by a group of Swiss, English and Catalonian men led by Joan Gamper. The club has become a Catalan institution, hence the motto "Més que un club" (More than a club). FC Barcelona is one of the only three clubs that have never been relegated from La Liga and the second most successful club in Spanish football having won eighteen La Liga titles, a record twenty-four Spanish Cups, seven Spanish Super Cups and two League Cups. They are also one of the most successful clubs in European football having won two European Cups, four UEFA Cup Winners' Cups, three Inter-Cities Fairs Cups and two UEFA Super Cups. The club's stadium is the Camp Nou, the largest stadium in Europe. Barcelona enjoys a high rate of popularity; about 25.7% of Spanish population support the club, while according to a recent survey Barcelona is the most popular football club in Europe with around 44.2 million fans. With 156,366 socis in June 2007, the Catalan club is also placed among the top football clubs in the world with the most registered members, and the number of penyes, the officially-registered supporter clubs, reached the number of 1,782 worldwide in June 2006. The fans of FC Barcelona are known as culés. The club shares a great rivalry with Real Madrid and contest in one of the most famous football matches worldwide, known as El Clásico. During the season 2007–08, Barcelona was the third richest club in the world with a revenue of €308.8 million. It was also one of the founding members of the now-defunct G-14 group of the leading European football clubs and its modern replacement, the European Club Association. The club also operates a reserve team, FC Barcelona Atlètic, while there was a youth team until 2007, FC Barcelona C. History Early years (1899-1908) On 22 October 1899 Joan Gamper placed an advert in Los Deportes declaring his wish to form a football club. A positive response resulted in a meeting at the Gimnasio Solé on November 29. Eleven players attended: Walter Wild, Lluís d'Ossó, Bartomeu Terradas, Otto Kunzle, Otto Maier, Enric Ducal, Pere Cabot, Carles Pujol, Josep Llobet, John Parsons and William Parsons. As a result Foot-Ball Club Barcelona was born. Several other Spanish football clubs, most notably Real Madrid and Athletic Bilbao, also had British founders, and as a result they initially adopted English-style names. Legend says that Gamper was inspired to choose the club colours, blaugrana, by FC Basel's crest. However, the other Swiss teams Gamper played for, his home canton of Zurich, and Merchant Taylors' School in Crosby, England have all been credited with or claimed to be the inspiration. FC Barcelona quickly emerged as one of the leading clubs in Spain, competing in the Campeonato de Cataluña and the Copa del Rey. In 1902, the club won its first trophy, the Copa Macaya, and also played in the first Copa del Rey final, losing 2-1 to Club Vizcaya. With Gamper's seal (1908-1923) In 1908 Joan Gamper became club president for the first time. Gamper took over the presidency as the club was on the verge of folding. The club had not won anything since the Campeonato de Cataluña of 1905 and its finances suffered as a result. Gamper was subsequently club president on five separate occasions between 1908 and 1925 and spent 25 years at the helm. One of his main achievements was to help Barça acquire its own stadium. On March 14, 1909, it moved into the Carrer Indústria, a stadium with a capacity of 8,000. Gamper also launched a campaign to recruit more club members and by 1922 the club had over 10,000. This led to the club moving again, this time to ''Las Cortes'', which inaugurated in the same year. This stadium had an initial capacity of 22,000, later expanded to an impressive 60,000. Gamper also recruited Jack Greenwell as manager. This saw the club's fortunes begin to improve on the field. During the Gamper era FC Barcelona won eleven Campeonato de Cataluña, six Copa del Rey and four ''Coupe de Pyrenées'' and enjoyed its first "golden age." Rivera, Republic, Civil War (1923-1939) In the middle of the 1920s, Barça really sucked and suffered from non-smoking conflicts which were to mark the following melenium. On 14 June 1925, the crowd at a game in homage to the Orfeó Català jeered the Royal March, a spontaneous reaction against Primo de Rivera's dictatorship. As a reprisal the ground closed, while Gamper forced to give up the presidency of the club. In 1928, the victory in Spanish Cup was celebrated with a poem titled “Oda a Platko”, which was written by the important member of the Generation of 27 Rafael Alberti, inspired by the heroic performance of the Barça keeper. On July 30 1930, the club's founder, after a period of depression brought on by personal and money problems committed suicide. Although they continued to have players of the standing of Josep Escolà, the club now entered a period of decline, in which political conflict overshadowed sport throughout society. Barça faced a crisis on three fronts: financial, social, with the number of members dropping constantly, and sporting, where although the team won the Campionat de Catalunya in 1930, 1931, 1932, 1934, 1936 and 1938, success at Spanish level (with the exception of the 1937 disputed title) evaded them. A month after the civil war began, Barça's left-wing president Josep Sunyol was murdered by Francisco Franco's soldiers near to Guadarrama. In the summer of 1937, the squad was on a tour in Mexico and America, in which it was received as an ambassador of the fighting Second Spanish Republic. That travel proved the financial saving of the club and also resulted in half the team seeking exile in Mexico and France. On 16 March 1938, the fascists dropped a bomb on the club's social club and caused big damages. A few months later, Barcelona was under fascist occupation and as a symbol of the 'undisciplined' Catalanism, the club, now down to just 3,486 members, was facing a number of serious problems. Club de Fútbol Barcelona (1939-1974) After the Spanish Civil War, the Catalan language and flag were banned and football clubs were prohibited from using non-Spanish names. These measures led to the club having its name forcibly changed to Club de Fútbol Barcelona and the removal of the Catalan flag from the club shield. During the Franco dictatorship one of the few places that Catalan could be spoken freely was within the club's stadium. In 1943, at Les Corts, for the first leg of the semi-finals of the Copa del Generalísimo against Real Madrid, the result was a 3-0 win for Barça. Before the second leg, Barcelona's players had a changing room visit from Franco's director of state security. He 'reminded' them that they were only playing due to the 'generosity of the regime'. Real Madrid won the game 11-1... Despite the difficult political situation, CF Barcelona enjoyed considerable success during the 1940s and 1950s. In 1945, with Josep Samitier as coach and players like César, Ramallets and Velasco, they won La Liga for first time since 1929. They added two more titles in 1948 and 1949. In 1949 they also won the first Copa Latina. In June 1950, Barcelona signed László Kubala. Kubala almost signed for Real Madrid but the decisive moment to change his mind was when he had married the daughter of Ferdinand Dauchik, who was in contact with Josep Samitiers, then a scout for Barcelona. Obviously because of this relationship, Kubala chose finally to play for Barcelona. On a rainy Sunday of 1951, the crowd left Les Corts stadium after a 2-1 win against Santander by foot, refusing to catch any trams and surprising the Francoist authorities. The reason was simple: at the same time a tram strike took place in Barcelona, receiving the support of blaugrana fans. Events like this have made FC Barcelona represent much more than just Catalonia and many progressive Spaniards see the club as a staunch defender of rights and freedoms. Coach Fernando Daucik and Ladislao Kubala and Nicolae Simatoc, regarded by many as the club's best ever player, inspired the team to five different trophies including La Liga, the Copa del Generalísimo, the Copa Latina, the Copa Eva Duarte and the Copa Martini Rossi in 1952. In 1953 they helped the club win La Liga and the Copa del Generalísimo again. The club also won the Copa del Generalísimo in 1957 and the Fairs Cup in 1958. With Helenio Herrera as coach, a young Luis Suárez, the European Footballer of the Year in 1960, and two influential Hungarians recommended by Kubala, Sándor Kocsis and Zoltán Czibor, the team won another national double in 1959 and a La Liga/Fairs Cup double in 1960. In 1961 they became the first club to beat Real Madrid in a European Cup eliminatory, thus ending their monopoly of the competition. To little avail, anyway- they lost 3-2 to Benfica in the final. The 1960s were less successful for the club, with Real Madrid monopolising La Liga. The completion of the Camp Nou, finished in 1957, meant the club had little money to spend on new players. However the decade also saw the emergence of Josep Fusté and Carles Rexach and the club winning the Copa del Generalísimo in 1963 and the Fairs Cup in 1966. Barça restored some pride by beating Real Madrid 1-0 in the 1968 Copa del Generalísimo final at the Bernabéu in front of Franco, having as coach Salvador Artigas, a republican pilot in the civil war. This match will always be mentioned for what was thrown and not for what was happening on the field. The club changed its official name back to Futbol Club Barcelona in 1974. Cruyff's first pass (1974-1978) The 1973/74 season saw the arrival, as player, of a new Barça legend – Johan Cruyff. Already an established player with Ajax, Cruyff quickly won over the Barça fans when he told the European press he chose Barça over Real Madrid because he could not play for a club associated with Franco.Johan Cruyff - Profile and career HistoryFC Barcelona - Club History He further endeared himself when he chose a Catalan name, ''Jordi'', for his son. He helped the club win La Liga for the first time since 1960, along the way defeating Real Madrid 5-0 at the Bernabéu. He was also crowned European Footballer of the Year in his first year at the club. The stabilization years (1978-1988) Josep Lluís Núñez was elected president of FC Barcelona in 1978. His main objectives were to establish Barça as a world-class sports club and to give the club financial stability. Besides, in 1979 and 1982 the club won two of four European Cup Winners' Cups won in the Núñez era. In June 1982 Diego Maradona was signed for a world record fee from Boca Juniors. In the following season, under coach César Luis Menotti, Barcelona and Maradona in an unforgettable final won the Copa del Rey, beating Real Madrid. However Diego's time with Barça was short-lived and he soon left for Napoli. At the start of the 1984/85 season, Terry Venables was hired as manager and he won La Liga with stellar displays by German midfielder Bernd Schuster. The next season, he took the team to their second European Cup final, only to lose on penalties to Steaua Bucureşti during a dramatic evening in Seville. After the 1986 World Cup, English top scorer Gary Lineker was signed along with goalkeeper Andoni Zubizarreta but the team could not achieve success while Schuster was excluded from the team. Terry Venables was subsequently fired at the beginning of the 1987/88 season and replaced with Luis Aragonés. That season finished with a rebellion of the players against president Núñez known as the Motín del Hesperia and the 1-0 victory at the Copa del Rey final against Real Sociedad. Dream Team and Centenari (1988-2000) In 1988 Johan Cruyff returned to the club as manager and assembled the so-called Dream Team, named after the US basketball team that played at the 1992 Summer Olympics hosted by Barcelona. He introduced players like Josep Guardiola, José Mari Bakero, Txiki Beguiristáin, Jon Andoni Goikoetxea, Gheorghe Hagi, Ronald Koeman, Michael Laudrup, Romário and Hristo Stoichkov. Under Cruyff's guidance, Barcelona won four consecutive La Liga titles from 1991 to 1994. They beat Sampdoria in both the 1989 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final and the 1992 European Cup final at Wembley with a legendary free kick goal from Dutch international Ronald Koeman. They also won a Copa del Rey in 1990, the European Super Cup in 1992 and three Supercopa de España. With 11 trophies, Cruijff became the club's most successful manager to date. He also became the club's longest serving manager. However, in his final two seasons, he failed to win any trophies (not to mention the disastrous 4-0 defeat in the UEFA Champions League 1994 final against Milan) and fell out with president Núñez, resulting in Cruijff's departure. Cruijff was briefly replaced by Bobby Robson who took charge of the club for a single season in 1996/97. He recruited Ronaldo from his previous club, PSV and delivered a cup treble winning the Copa del Rey, UEFA Cup Winners Cup and the Supercopa de España. Despite his success, Robson was only ever seen as a short-term solution while the club waited for Louis van Gaal to become available. Like Maradona, Ronaldo only stayed a short time and he left for Internazionale. However, new heroes such as Luís Figo, Patrick Kluivert, Luis Enrique Martínez and Rivaldo emerged and the team won a Copa del Rey/La Liga double in 1998. In 1999 the club celebrated its 'centenari' winning the Primera División title and Rivaldo became the fourth Barça player to be awarded European Footballer of the Year. Despite this domestic success, the failure to emulate Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League led to van Gaal and Núñez resigning in 2000. Gaspart's decline period (2000-2003) The departures of Núñez and van Gaal were nothing compared to that of Luís Figo. As well as club vice-captain, Figo had become a cult hero and was considered by Catalans to be one of their own. So the Barça fans were distraught by Figo’s decision to join arch-rivals Real Madrid and during subsequent visits to the ''Camp Nou'' Figo was given an extremely hostile reception, including one occasion when a piglet's head was thrown at him from the crowd. The next three years saw the club in decline and managers came and went, including a short second spell by Louis van Gaal. President Gaspart did not inspire confidence off the field either and in 2003 he and van Gaal resigned. Rijkaard and Ronaldinho (2003-2008) in the 2006 Champions League Final ]] After the disappointment of the Gaspart era, the combination of a new young president Joan Laporta and a young new manager, former Dutch and Milan star Frank Rijkaard, saw the club bounce back. On the field, an influx international players, including Ronaldinho, Deco, Henrik Larsson, Ludovic Giuly, Samuel Eto'o and Rafael Márquez, combined with a nucleus of home grown and Spanish players such as Carles Puyol, Andrés Iniesta, Xavi, and Víctor Valdés led to the club's return to success. Barça won La Liga and the Supercopa de España in 2004–05, and stars Ronaldinho and Eto'o were voted first and third in the FIFA World Player of the Year awards. In 2005–06 Barcelona repeated their league and Supercup successes. The pinnacle of the league season arrived at Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in a 3–0 victory over Real Madrid, Frank Rijkaard's second victory at the Bernabeu, making him the first Barça manager to win there twice. Ronaldinho's performance was so impressive that after his second, and Barça's third goal the Real Madrid fans felt compelled to applaud him. In the Champions' League Barça beat English club Arsenal 2–1 in the final. Trailing 1-0 to a 10-man Arsenal and with less than 15 minutes left they came back to win 2-1, with substitute Henrik Larsson, in his final appearance for the club, setting up goals for Samuel Eto'o and fellow substitute Belletti, for the club's first European Cup victory in 14 years. Despite being the favourites and starting strongly, Barcelona finished the 2006-07 season trophyless. A pre-season US tour was later blamed for a string of injuries to key players, including leading scorer Eto'o and rising star Lionel Messi. There was open feuding as Eto'o publicly criticized coach Frank Rijkaard and Ronaldinho. Ronaldinho also admitted that lack of fitness affected his form. In La Liga Barça were in first place for much of the season, but inconsistency in the New Year saw Real Madrid overtake them to become champions. Barça advanced to the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey, winning the first leg against Getafe 5-2, with a goal from Messi bringing comparison to Maradona, but then lost the second leg 4-0. They took part in the 2006 FIFA Club World Cup, but were beaten in the final by a late goal against Internacional. In the Champions League, Barça were knocked out of the competition in the last 16 by eventual runners-up Liverpool on away goals. Barcelona finished 2007-08 season third in La Liga and reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League and Copa del Rey, both times losing to the eventual champions: Manchester United and Valencia, respectively. A day after a 4-1 defeat by Real Madrid, Joan Laporta announced that Barça B coach Josep Guardiola would take over Frank Rijkaard's duties after June 30. Guardiola (2008-present) In the pre-season of 2008-09 a motion of no confidence was raised against Joan Laporta. The no confidence motion received 60% support, just short of the 66% required to oust the president, and eight of his directors resigned. Laporta, with the assistance of Director of Football Txiki Begiristain, responded with a turnover of players, selling Gianluca Zambrotta, Deco, Edmílson and Ronaldinho. Nearly 90 million euros was spent rebuilding the squad, with Begiristain and Laporta purchasing Seydou Keita, Gerard Piqué, Martín Cáceres, Dani Alves and Aliaksandr Hleb. On 17 January 2009, Barça set the record for amassing the highest points total for the first half of a season in La Liga, attaining 50 points out of a possible 57, with 18 wins, 2 draws, and just 1 loss against Numancia in the first game of the season. Six days later on 23 January, the International organisation IFFHS ranked Barça first in their list of the greatest football clubs of the last 18 years. The All-time Club World Ranking was determined by taking into account all the results of the national championships, the national cup competitions, the club competitions of the six continental confederations and the FIFA. Rivalries El Clásico There is often a fierce rivalry between the two strongest teams in a national league, and this is particularly the case in La Liga, where the game between Barça and Real Madrid is known as El Clásico. From the start the clubs were seen as representatives of two rival regions in Spain, Catalonia and Castile, as well as of the two cities themselves. The rivalry projects what many regard as the political and other tensions felt between Catalans and the Castilians. During the dictatorships of Primo de Rivera and (especially) of Francisco Franco (1939 - 1975), all regional cultures were openly suppressed (e.g., all the languages spoken in Spanish territory except Spanish itself were officially banned). Symbolising Catalan people's desire for freedom, Barça became more than a club (més que un club) for it and one of its greatest ambassadors. According to Manuel Vázquez Montalbán, Catalans' best way of demonstrating their identity was by joining Barça. It was less risky than joining a clandestine anti-Franco movement and allowed them to express their dissidence. On the contrary, Real Madrid was widely seen as the embodiment of the sovereign oppressive centralism and the fascist regime at management level and beyond (Santiago Bernabeu, the former club president for whom the Merengues' stadium is named, fought with 'los nacionales'). http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1697027,00.html However, during the Spanish Civil War, members of both clubs like Josep Sunyol and Rafael Sánchez Guerra suffered at the hands of Franco supporters. During the 1950s the rivalry was exacerbated significantly when the clubs disputed the signing of Alfredo di Stéfano, who finally played for Real Madrid and was key in the subsequent success achieved by the club. The 1960s saw the rivalry reach the European stage when they met twice at the knock-out stages of the European Cup. As nowadays Barça and Real Madrid are the two biggest and most successful clubs in the league, the rivalry is renewed on an almost annual basis with both teams often challenging each other for the league championship. The latest Clásico was played in the Camp Nou on December 17, 2008 and ended with a 2-0 win for Barça, with late goals from Samuel Eto'o and Lionel Messi. El Derbi Barceloní Barça's 'internal' rival has always been Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol. 'Blanqui-blaus', being one of the clubs granted royal patronage, were founded exclusively by Spanish football fans, unlike the multinational nature of Barça's primary board. Their original ground was in the well-off district of Sarrià. Traditionally, especially during the Franco regime, Espanyol was seen by the majority of Barcelona's citizens as a club which cultivated a kind of compliance to the central authority, in stark contrast to Barça's revolutionary spirit. Despite this background the derbi has always been much more relevant to Espanyol supporters than Barcelona ones due to the difference in objectives. Although it is the most played local derby in the history of La Liga it is also the least balanced of them all, with Barcelona being overwhelmingly dominating. In the league table Espanyol have only managed to end above Barça on three occasions in almost seventy years and even the only all-Catalan Copa del Rey Final in 1957 was won by Barça. Espanyol only has the consolation of achieving the largest margin win with a 6-0 in 1951. The latest Derbi Barceloní ended in a 2-1 win for Espanyol - incidentally this was the first time in the history of La Liga that a side bottom of the standings had beaten a team at the top of the league. Sponsorship Barça have an attitude to shirt sponsorship that is historically noteworthy. They have continuously refused to advertise corporate sponsors on the shirt since the club's founding, but on 14 July 2006, the club announced a five year agreement with UNICEF, which includes having the UNICEF logo on their shirts. The agreement will see Barça donating US$1.9 million per year to UNICEF (0.7 per cent of its ordinary income) to the FC Barcelona Foundation, and rejecting significant money offers to be the first shirt sponsor of the football team. Similarly, for the 2008/9 season and onwards, Aston Villa have a similar deal with Acorns Children's Hospice, involving charitable promotion. The club has done this in order to set up international cooperation programmes for development, supports the UN Millennium Development Goals and has made a commitment to UNICEF’s humanitarian aid programs through the donation of one and a half million euro for the next five years. Companies that Barça currently has sponsorship deals with include : * Nike - Official sponsors * Coca-Cola - Official sponsors * TV3 - Official sponsors * Audi - Official sponsors * Estrella Damm - Official sponsors * La Caixa - Official sponsors * bwin - Official Betting Partner * Acer - Official provider * MediaPro - Official provider * NH Hoteles - Official provider * Vueling - Official provider * Babybel - Official provider Shirt sponsors and manufacturers Stadium Information stadium]] *'Name' - Camp Nou *'City' - Barcelona *'Capacity' - 98,772 *'Other Facilities:' ** Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper (FC Barcelona's training ground) ** La Masia (Residence of young players) ** Mini Estadi ** Palau Blaugrana (FC Barcelona indoor sports arena) ** Palau Blaugrana 2 (Secondary indoor arena of FC Barcelona) ** Palau de Gel Honours Domestic competitions La Liga :* Winners (18): 1929, 1928-29, 1944-45, 1947-48, 1948-49, 1951-52, 1952-53, 1958-59, 1959-60, 1973-74, 1984-85, 1990-91, 1991-92, 1992-93, 1993-94, 1997-98, 1998-99, 2004-05, 2005-06. Copa del Rey (record) :* Winners (24): 1910, 1912, 1913, 1920, 1922, 1925, 1926, 1928, 1942, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1957, 1959, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1978, 1981, 1983, 1988, 1990, 1997, 1998 :* Runners-up (9): 1902, 1919, 1932, 1936, 1954, 1974, 1984, 1986, 1996 Supercopa de España :* Winners (7): 1983, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996, 2005, 2006 :* Runners-up (7): 1985, 1988, 1990, 1993, 1997, 1998, 1999 Copa de la Liga (record) :* Winners (2): 1983–83, 1986–86 International competitions ]] FIFA Club World Cup :* Runners-up (1): 2006 Intercontinental Cup :* Runners-up (1): 1992 UEFA Champions League :* Winners (2): 1992, 2006 :* Runners-up (3): 1961, 1986, 1994 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup (record) :* Winners (4): 1979, 1982, 1989, 1997 :* Runners-up (2): 1969, 1991 European Super Cup :* Winners (2): 1992, 1997 :* Runners-up (4): 1979, 1982, 1989, 2006 Other International Trophies Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (UEFA Cup's predecessor) (record) :* Winners (3): 1958, 1960, 1966 :* Runners-up (1): 1962 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Trophy Play-Off :* Winners (1): 1971 Latin Cup (record) :* Winners (2): 1949, 1952 Small World Cup :* Winners (1): 1957 References: Futbol Club Barcelona honours; FCBarcelona.cat European club facts: FC Barcelona; uefa.com Statistics and records Migueli presently holds both records for number of total and Liga appearances for Barcelona with a total of 548 games played in total, and 391 in La Liga. Most recently Xavi Hernandez, vice-captain of the club reached 460 games for the club. Barcelona's all time top goalscorer is a Spaniard, César Rodríguez who, has scored 235 goals in all official matches. Ladislao Kubala is in second place with 196 goals for the club. The highest scoring present squad member is Samuel Eto'o who has scored 123 goals. As of 2nd of February 2009, Barcelona have reached a total of 5000 La Liga goals. The goal was converted by Lionel Messi in the game against Racing de Santander which FCB won 1-2. Recent seasons : Last updated: 30 January 2009 Div. = Division;D1 = First Division; Pos. = Position; Pl = Match played; W''' = Win; '''D = Draw; L''' = Lost; '''GS = Goal Scored; GA = Goal Against; P''' = Points '''UCL = UEFA Champions League; UC = UEFA Cup; ' ESC' = UEFA Super Cup; SSC = Supercopa de España; CWC = FIFA Club World Cup; Cup = Copa del Rey Colors: Gold = winner; Silver = runner-up; Cyan = ongoing Players Spanish teams are limited to three players without EU citizenship. The squad list includes only the principal nationality of each player; several non-European players on the squad have dual citizenship with an EU country. Also, players from the ACP countries—countries in Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific that are signatories to the Cotonou Agreement—are not counted against non-EU quotas due to the Kolpak ruling. :As of 10 January 2009. Current squad From the Youth system Out on loan Personnel Current Technical Staff Current Board of Directors ]] Former personnel Selected former presidents see also Below is the official presidential history of Barcelona, from when Walter Wild took over at the club in 1899, until the present day. |width="5"| |valign="top"| |width="5"| |valign="top"| |} Notable managers see also List of FC Barcelona managers The following managers have all won at least one trophy when in charge or have been notable for Barça in the context of the League, for example Johan Cruijff who holds a League record. World Cup winners Two players have won the FIFA World Cup whilst FC Barcelona players: * Romário (USA 1994) * Rivaldo (Korea-Japan 2002) European Championship winners Six players have won the European Championship whilst at FC Barcelona, all with Spain: * Jesús María Pereda (1964) * Josep Fusté (1964) * Fernando Olivella (1964) * Carles Puyol (2008) * Xavi (2008) * Andrés Iniesta (2008) See also * List of fan-owned sports teams * Supporters of FC Barcelona * Richest football clubs Sources * Morbo: The Story of Spanish Football (2003), Phil Ball. * Barça: A People’s Passion (1998), Jimmy Burns. References External links * Official club website / / / / / / * FC Barcelona forum * Russian-speaking site about FC Barcelona * FC Barcelona News, Match Reports and Pictures * English-Speaking FC Barcelona Forum * FC Barcelona Fans site * FC Barcelona at the UEFA official website * Official Club US Store * Lithuanian-speaking site about Barcelona * FC Barcelona kit history ;News sites * FC Barcelona news from Marca * FC Barcelona news from AS Category:FC Barcelona Category:Spanish clubs Category:La Liga clubs